The first day of the new year is coming to a close. Ideally, I’d kick off 2010 by laying out the big plans I have in store for the next 12 months but to be honest none have progressed past the idea stage. Regular visitors may have noticed that during the last few weeks of December updates were occasionally hit or miss. Part of the problem was simply things piling up at the end of the year and believe it or not I’ve used up just about all the questions I feel are appropriate for the Q & A segment.
Also, in October I lost access to two valuable sources of information–historical editions of The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune–and that has hampered my ability to do research, as I am now restricted to a historical edition of The New York Times (and I don’t know how long I’ll be able to count on that). Of course, I do have other resources, including Broadcasting and Television Magazine, and recently I’ve started finding excellent information in Billboard thanks to Google Books.
I am also running low on obscure television programs that I can easily write an article about. I need to have both enough information to fill an article as well as images and audiovisual material to flesh them out, which is why I’m usually not able to take requests for articles. I do have a few titles left to write about while I work to acquire additional material, although without The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune the resulting articles may be less in-depth than I would like. I am also planning to write about several short-lived programs from the early 1990s, partly because I need content and partly because many visitors are interested in more recent programs, even if the very fact that they aired in the past two or three decades makes them more forgotten than truly obscure.
The one new feature I am seriously considering is a monthly DVD review that would replace one of the two articles I was writing during 2009. I feel there are enough somewhat obscure programs available on DVD — many of them from companies like Alpha Video — to keep these reviews going for some time. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while and now hopefully I’ll actually get around to doing it. I’d also like to focus a little more on the TV’s Lost & Found section of the site this year. I have quite a large batch of promotional spots that I’ll be posting to the Video Vault and just the other day I purchased some additional comic book tie-ins to review.
In short, I hope to continue providing the same mix of articles, exhibits and other features that I introduced in May of 2009. And I hope to see many more interesting and informative comments posted by visitors during 2010. As always, feel free to contact me with any suggestions or questions.
It’s tough when you lose access to a valuable source of information (you’re not alone, ‘RGJ’- that’s happened to me, too). But I’m sure you’ll find other sources [perhaps better ones?] and your articles will be better than ever! I recall several months ago you were talking about NOT writing any further articles. This period of frustration will pass as well….so get to it!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
RGJ you are only one person, you can only do as much as one person can and if sources of information dry up there really isn’t much you can do about it…but as usual you’ll think of something